1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to data communication techniques and, in particular, to a data communication system and method for adjusting transmission power levels of one or more transceivers in order to limit the effects of crosstalk for other transceivers communicating within the same binder or cable.
2. Related Art
In a typical telecommunication system, transceivers at a central office usually communicate over one or more communication connections, sometimes referred to as “subscriber lines,” to remote transceivers, sometimes referred to as “customer transceivers,” located at various customer premises. Network service providers strategically deploy multiple central offices in an effort to keep the lengths of the communication connections between the central office transceivers and the customer transceivers within a desirable or specified range. Moreover, as the demand for network services increases, network service providers typically add more equipment at the central offices and/or add more central offices.
In some situations, a network service provider will add a remote terminal, also referred to as an “intermediate terminal,” which is often smaller than a central office. Transceivers at an intermediate terminal, like transceivers at a central office, communicate over one or more communication connections to transceivers located at various customer premises. However, as compared to central office transceivers, an intermediate terminal transceiver is typically located substantially closer to its corresponding customer premises transceiver. For example, transceivers at a central office often communicate with customer premises transceivers over distances up to approximately four miles, whereas transceivers at an intermediate terminal often communicate with customer premises transceivers over distances less than approximately two miles.
In some instances, communication connections from an intermediate terminal are located within a close proximity of communication connections from a central office. For example, communication connections from an intermediate terminal may be bound within the same binder or cable as communication connections from a central office. In such instances, crosstalk from transceivers at the intermediate terminal may significantly interfere with signals transmitted by transceivers at the central office.
In this regard, crosstalk from a transceiver at the intermediate terminal typically travels shorter distances and is, therefore, less attenuated than crosstalk from a transceiver at the central office. As a result, crosstalk from the transceiver at the intermediate terminal is often at a significantly higher power level than crosstalk from the transceiver at the central office. This higher power level for the crosstalk from the intermediate terminal transceiver often exacerbates the adverse effects of crosstalk interference for the signals transmitted from the central office transceiver. In fact, crosstalk from the intermediate terminal transceiver may cause the signal-to-noise ratio of signals from the central office transceiver to fall below acceptable levels.